Consistent growth is one of the biggest challenges experienced by bloggers. Whether you’re blogging to grow a business, create a community, or share your passions with others, growing an active and engaged audience is important.

But where does that growth come from?

I'm getting married in 7 short weeks and time is flying by! The next month is going to be spent saving money for the honeymoon and preparing my business for a 3 week vacation. There's a lot to do. You might not be getting married, but we all need a break. Whether you're going out of town, taking a break from the internet, having a baby or getting ready for finals week, these tips will help you batch your content ahead of time.

I confess - I am a compulsive workaholic. There, I said it. I have a natural bent toward full speed ahead or dead stop. If left to my own devices, my natural tendency is to work until I hit burnout. And the truth is.... I don't really dislike that about myself. I am very comfortable operating in those two speeds.

I know I am not alone. I know there is someone reading this and emphatically nodding their head in agreement. Moderation and balance are foreign concepts for most entrepreneurs. We are by design naturally gifted at functioning in the extreme. We are driven people. We work off inspiration. We are always improving upon the last improvement. We seek excellence. We know in our heart of hearts that nothing is ever really the final version because we chase innovation and innovation always demands more.

You know there is more you could be doing for your blog. There’s always that other something. You also know that in order to just keep moving forward, you have to prioritize where your attention goes.

We all want to do more, and we want to do it faster so we can spend our time doing other things we love. Use these tips to help you add more time to your day. In time, they will add hours to your day.

When I first started my website I was bombarded with advice to hire a website designer, invest in a brand, upgrade to the Genesis Framework, and purchase tools to "help me grow my business" all in the name of investing. I truly believe investing in your business is important to growth, but there is a right and wrong way to do it.

When you're starting out with $10 in your pocket, you can't invest in everything to start. So, this guide is for those of you starting your own business or blog with your own money. Here's what you should REALLY invest your money in and in what order.

This probably doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyway: This is my own opinion. If you have the money to hire a $5000 web designer and social media guru right out the gate, this post is not meant for you. But, if you're a student/stay-at-home-mom/hobby-blogger who wants to make some extra cash, this is how I did it and how I could afford it.

There’s a lot of reasons why online business owners decide against creating videos. Time, money and equipment are the big three - in fact, they’re the big three excuses for most things. With video, they’re all actually valid issues because videos do take time, and equipment, and - yes - sometimes even a little money to create.

But probably not as much of all three as you may think. Especially if you have a plan.

I've talked about 17Hats a lot lately. I have some vague mentions of it here, here and here. And I have an ecourse about it here. But I've never written a whole guide for you all, so today that's going to change. 

17Hats plays a huge role in my small business and I think it's a valuable tool that can be used by any solopreneur to streamline their lead intake and keep projects organized. 

Is busyness a key factor for creating a successful business?

Well, if we girlbosses could make 6 figures just from being busy, I’m sure we’d all be living pretty large. But if we’re being honest, I think we can agree that we’re reeeally good at being busy, yet we know that’s not enough to be a successful entrepreneur. #realitycheck

There’s a big difference between being busy and being productive.  But how can we even tell if we’re being productive or we’re just busy? A good place to start is with a little self-analysis.

Organization is one of my favorite things to do, I enjoy the process of sitting down and blocking out time in my day for all the tasks I have to complete. I'm an entrepreneur, but first and foremost I'm a mother and each hour of every day has necessary tasks that have to be completed in order to maintain my children's needs, my business' needs and my own needs.

Blocking out time for specific must do tasks is the only way I can stay on top of everything that is needed to get done.